Groups relive Arizona history at Pioneer
Marc Buckhout ~ Managing Editor ~ 01/06/2010

Pioneer Living History Village and Museum is opening the new year by offering the opportunity to do some time travelling.
This weekend visitors will see history come alive as two separate groups will perform skits while decked out in outfits and weaponry used in the mid to late 1800s.
The Southwest Legends Gunfighters have been making their way to Pioneer Living History Museum, located west of I-17 off exit 225, for the past 14 years.
The group, numbering 25 volunteers, will perform from 10 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday.
Along with performing skits the group teaches gun safety to children and also rehearses new skits, taking input from the crowds in the process.
“We have eight or nine different shows we’re working on and 30-40 in our book,” Southwest Legends Gunfighters owner Tom Lowe said. “We’ve been doing this since 1996 and we’ll recycle some of the shows we’ve done over the year so people don’t end up seeing the same ones all the time.”
The group’s goal is to teach kids about firearm safety and the American West.
In addition to the Southwest Legends, Pioneer, which sits on more than 90 acres, also will be hosting the Arizona Civil War Council.
David Kampf, a member of the group, said there are a number of reasons his group volunteers its time.
“It’s a way of honoring the soldiers,” he said. “Members of our group also enjoy camping, and the rough, tough American pioneer spirit.”
Kampf said his group will sleep on the grounds Friday and Saturday evening. During the day they will be enacting small battles from the Civil War with performances at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday.
“Our uniforms and weaponry are authentic reproductions of what they wore and used,” he said.
Kampf, a Navy reservist, said he has been extensively studying the Civil War for more than 30 years.
He said one of the thrills of what his group does is the reaction they get from children.
“We’ll have them wear a hat and hold a musket and go through some drills that Civil War soldiers would go through,” he said. “Think about it, a kid who lives a plain average life comes out here and sees people wearing these uniforms that haven’t been used in 150 years carrying weapons they’ve never seen before and it’s something completely foreign to them. It’s like pouring water on a sponge. They can’t get enough. I’ve had kids start crying when their parents told them it was time to go.”
Along with taking pride in teaching children gun safety Lowe too agrees that the ability to bring to life the Old West, the frontier spirit, captures the imagination.
“Our main goal is to keep the Old West alive,” he said. “Maybe not many people think of it, but the things they did, the sacrifices they made have allowed us to be where we are today. Members in our group love portraying the Old West. We’ve got a family-oriented group where every member has a say in what we do.”
Admission to Pioneer Living History Museum is $7 for adults, $6 for seniors 60 and over, $5 for children 6-18 while those under 5 are free. The park is open from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Wednesday – Sunday. For information call 623-465-1052 or go to www.pioneeraz.org.